A Favourite Wintertime Cocktail : Nick’s Sinners’ Tea

When it's cold and snowy outside, here's a cocktail that will make you feel all toasty and warm inside. It's been my favourite frosty weather drink since the day that Nick placed a warm mug of this concoction into my hands after a freezing winter walk last year.

Made with rum, fresh lemon juice, brown sugar and a combination of naturally caffeine-free teas, it kind of gives you the impression that it's medicinal, regardless of whether you have a sore throat or not. It is delightfully soothing and delicious.

What kind of Tea to Use? : The teas used are Orange Herbal and Rooibos (also known as Red Tea). There are several brands of both of those kinds of teas available, so you can use what you find. If the orange one you find is a spiced orange, than all the better. (We've been using Twinings Honeybush Mandarin and Orange Herbal Tea and President's Choice Rooibos.)

I don't like to tie any recipe to one specific ingredient, in case you can't find what you need where you live, or something goes out of production, so this third kind of tea is a suggestion IF you can find it -- Celestial Seasoning's Bengal Spice. The cocktail is tasty without the spices in this kind of tea, but they do add to the feeling of warmth with the ginger and black pepper. I couldn't find Bengal Spice the last time I looked for it, therefore know that it might not always be easy to get, so I've already decided that if/when we run out of our supply, I'm going to make my own spice blend of Cinnamon, Ginger, Cardamom, Black Pepper, Cloves and Nutmeg, and put it in a shaker. Then I'll add a sprinkle of that to the teapot when brewing the other teas.

All that said about the spices and spiced tea, I've made the cocktail with easy-to-find Orange Herbal and Rooibos teas and it's still delicious.

Each of these teas is very good on its own too, just as a regular hot drink. The Bengal Spice is great for people who like Chai but don't want the caffeine.

Ingredients :4 teabags (2 each of Orange and Rooibos, or 2 Bengal Spice, 1 Orange and 1 Rooibos) to about 5 cups of boiling water. Juice of one lemon (plus additional slices to garnish, if desired).1/3 cup of brown sugar (more or less to your taste).A shot of rum (1 oz) per drink (about 3/4 cups of tea), or to taste.

Method :Steep the tea for 5 to 8 minutes. In the meantime juice your lemon and add it and the brown sugar into a jug that can handle hot liquids (glass instead of plastic). Pour in the hot tea and give it a good stir. To serve, fill your cup with tea and then add the rum, one drink at a time. (We do it that way instead of adding the rum to the pitcher all at once because alcohol will evaporate relatively quickly when heated up, so unless you're serving the whole pitcher right away it might lose some of its kick by the time you drink it.) Garnish with a lemon slice, if desired.

If you don't finish the whole pitcher of tea while it's still hot, you can easily warm it up in the microwave oven for 30 seconds or so, (before adding the rum). We have also saved extra tea in the fridge and made a cocktail at a later date, by heating it in the microwave. If you don't have a microwave you can gently reheat in a saucepan on the stove too.

This would be a fun cocktail to have at a ladies' party, such as a shower, served in teacups.

Thanks for checking out my post. I hope you try out Nick's Sinners' Tea for yourself. It's just right for a cold winter's evening spent relaxing indoors.

All photographs are my own, unless stated. In most cases, others are welcome to use them but only with credit, including a link to my site when published anywhere online. Please contact me if you would like high resolution versions.